it's friday {hence the top five friday post} and i've found myself sitting in my living room alone, with adelaide in bed and zach on alert {shh, don't tell the crazies} and i was thinking about how awesome this christmas was and wanted to document a few highlights.
we went home before christmas this year, which was hectic, but awesome, so we didn't get to make it home for the actual holiday. this was our third time in the four years we have been married that we have spent christmas by ourselves and the past two times were rough. i had that homesick feeling during the entire month of december and christmas just didn't feel the same. this year was different though. this year, i looked forward to spending it with my little family, in our own home, without having to worry about anything except ourselves. don't get me wrong, i sure as heck missed our families, but having christmas here at home just felt right. maybe zach and i just advanced to legitimate-grown-up-status this year? who knows. all i can say is that it was awesome. and here are a few reasons why:
1. pomegranates and cream.
yep. that would be a huge-a$$ bowl of pomegranates, cream, and sugar. zach and i are pretty sure we started a new tradition with this stuff. we spent christmas eve eating it, with our backs turned to each other, wrapping presents, listening to christmas music, and talking about everything. might sound lame, but it was actually kind of magical. it totally set the christmas mood.
2. painting toe nails with the babelet.
can i just say how much i looove having a girl? which is funny to me, because almost two years ago, that wasn't the case. in fact, when i was finding out addi's gender, there was some miscommunication and for a split second, i thought she was a boy. i was elated! then, the mix-up was unmixed and i realized she wasn't a boy, but rather a girl. i was this---> |-| close to bursting into tears. i probably would have if we didn't have family around. i was so disappointed! but now, i'm so glad it happened the way it did. i'm pretty sure everyone thinks that way, but let's just pretend i'm original. i was painting my toenails yesterday and she came over and wanted me to paint hers, too. she sat real still and when i was finished and showed her how i was blowing on mine to get them to dry, she blew on hers, too. that wasn't the first moment that i've been able to sit back and soak in the joy of being a teacher and a mom, but it was probably one of my top five favorites.
3. we had a white christmas! sort of. it snowed all day starting at about noon. that still counts, right?
this is a really crappy picture, i know, but when i turned down my street, i needed to take it because this reminds me so much of growing up. when the roads were like this, that's when we would tie a couple sleds to the back of our car and my dad would drive us up and down the streets, giving us a good case of whiplash and a cough from the exhaust. we loved it. to this day, the smell of exhaust reminds me of sledding. because of this scene right here, i spent all day trying to find snow bibs and a sled to take addi sledding. {don't worry. not behind the car.} sadly, target is too busy filling their shelves with swimsuit and pool noodles and walmart said they never got any sleds in this year. what kind of place is this?! maybe tomorrow, i'll have better luck.
4. my super thoughtful husband. {warning: sappy post ahead.} i know that around the world, there are about a kabillion girls a day that go on and on about how they have the best husband/boyfriend/significant other/etc. ever, but can i just set the record straight and let everyone know that my husband is actually the best husband/boyfriend/significant other/etc. ever? {yes. he fits into all of those categories.} not only did he get me everything on my christmas list {hooray for grocery bag carriers!}, but he also got me a few other meaningful things, including this gorgeous ornament:
he hand carved this out of the same christmas tree that we used for our first christmas as husband and wife. i about died! i'd say he did pretty dang well. gift giving isn't the only thing that wins him the best husband/boyfriend/significant other/etc. ever title, though. zach is kind of like a ninja. if anyone knows me, they know how much i love my sleep. zach has mastered the art of getting out of bed, showering, getting ready for the day, doing the dishes, and whatever else he does in the mornings, without even so much as making me stir. it's probably one of my favorite qualities about him. that and his ability to come up with analogies, to dumb smart things down. that comes in handy a lot around this house because he's so much smarter than me and uses big words a lot. oh, and he also has a flawless perception of time. he could guess when we will be home from a road trip down to the minute, before we have even left. i'm awful at that. just last week when i was christmas shopping, i told him i would be home in 45 minutes and i actually believed it. 3 hours later, i pulled in the driveway. oops. anyway. i definitely got a keeper and i'm glad zach is the one that i will be spending the rest of my christmases with!
5. lastly, i loved having a real christmas tree.
can i be honest with you here and say that christmas tree hunting was not my favorite this year? i remember going tree hunting with my dad and we could spot good ones from our car. so, you can imagine my surprise when we traipsed all over those woods for hours and this tree was the best we could come up with. pfft. it's not a looker by any means, but once we brought it in the house and decorated it and we could smell fresh pine every time we walked through the door, we grew to love this little tree and i'm so glad we spent the time and energy to get it. even if i'm pretty sure we killed it while we were in disneyland. this tree was good to us this year and despite the hunt being difficult, we will probably end up doing it again next year. isn't being able to forget bad things such a blessing? #hellochildbirth
there you have it. 5 things that made this christmas special for us. of course, the most important thing that wasn't mentioned, was the Spirit of Christ that we felt so strongly this season and are grateful to have in our home year-round. without it, everything said above would be meaningless. i am so grateful to my Savior and his willingness to sacrifice for me, so that i can have the joy and peace that i experience daily. i hope you had a very merry christmas and have a happy new year, too!
-the mrs.
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